Letters to Eliza, 1861 - 1865transcribed and edited by Virginia Bryant |
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The letters were written to Eliza Smith, 15 year old daughter of William Smith and Mary Strimple - most of them were from her brother, James
Smith, a member of the 39th Regiment, Ohio Volunteers. Others were from her two
cousins who were with Illinois Regiments. Still more letters were from friends of her
brother or the cousins. The letters tell a compelling story of a rural Ohio family faced
with the separations of war. The 150 letters written during this
short period of history, present a story of an average rural family caught up in a
terrible time of war and separation. War is described in the words of foot soldiers who
take one day at a time, one battle at a time. Eliza lived sixty years after the Civil War, still in the same community, and still carefully safeguarding all the letters she had ever received. Eliza Smith received letters from Ella Toph and from Will Toph. In 1869 Eliza Smith Married John Wesley Marsh Toph. Their children were Mary Etta Toph who never married, Flora Catherine Toph who died young, and Nora Eliza Toph who married Rev. William Grider Neel. All these letters were kept in a suitcase and preserved first by Eliza, then by Etta, and finally by Nora. Rev. Neel pastored the Pine Street Methodist Church in Ironton, Ohio during the 1950s. He retired and they moved to their home on Ohio Furnace Road just over the border in Scioto County, Ohio. He died about a year after retiring, 1958. Nora died in 1961 and their only son, John Justin Neel died in 1962. The letters were sold along with furniture at an auction and were kept by an Ironton family from 1961 until the present time. |
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| The 112-page book is 8 1/2 x 11, soft cover, price $23.36. Ohio residents must add $1.67
sales tax. Shipping is $5.00 The book is available from the Historic Jail Preservation Corp, Post Office Box 1266, South Point, Ohio 45680 Proceeds from the book will benefit two non profit agencies - the Historic Jail Preservation Corp and the Lawrence County Historical Society. | |||